26 Jul Board Meeting Procedures
If you’re preparing to create an entirely new board or overseeing an existing one, it’s crucial to establish a clear procedure. This article provides general guidelines for board procedures for meetings to help you conduct meetings with efficiency.
Board members must prepare thoroughly for each meeting by reading the board’s papers and asking questions prior to the meeting. This is a crucial step to keep meetings on track and focused. If you allow members to ask questions that are answered in the board’s handbook, they’ll slow down the meeting and give less time to discuss the important agenda items. Members must also be willing to reveal any potential conflicts of interests which could affect the discussion.
The chair of the board starts the meeting by giving a summary of the focus for the meeting and highlights from the pre-meeting calls and board packet. This helps draw everyone involved in the discussion and to help them understand what is going on.
If a motion is made the board members debate the topic following strict rules regarding who can speak and the duration of their speeches. This ensures that everyone’s opinions are weighed equally and the board is able to reach an agreement. It is important to respect the other members by not interrupting or critiquing them in the course of discussions.
Following the discussion, the board votes on the motions, and decides on the action to take. Then the company secretary records the minutes of the board meeting, and then sends them to the board members. They can then approve the minutes at the next board meeting or make changes as required.